Plot:

Even though he was king, Andreus never felt more like a prince. He won the Trials of Virtuous Succession, lose the love of his life, Imogen, and his twin, Carys, in the process, and felt their deaths heavily on his heart. Once on the throne, problems in the kingdom started to arise. The lack of wind causes the lights to flicker, and with the colder months upon them, the Xhelozi are ready to attack any person left in the dark. When a hooded figure tries to murder Max, Andreus knew one of The Elders was behind the attack. But which one? Andreus, Max, and a guard that was loyal to his sister, Graylen, ban together to find out what future The Elders had for the kingdom of Eden.

Carys were very much alive. Traveling the outside of the kingdom, her team consists of Garret, Larkin and Errik; in which it was only Larkin who Carys truly trusted. Garret’s uncle was trying to set him up on the throne; Errik’s family was the family that Carys’s great-grandfather killed to become king. Imogen was also Errik’s cousin, whom Carys blame for turning her brother on her during the trials. Yet the both told Carys to trust them, and not the other. Separated from her twin, Carys angry towards him grows, as Andreus betrayal was something Carys never thought she had to face. Traveling to the seers’ village, Carys wanted to know how Imogen was selected as the kingdom’s seer. After that, Carys was out for blood, wanting to reclaim her throne, she was willing to kill her twin, no matter what.

Thoughts:

The saying that the sequel will never be good as the original falls true to this Joelle Charbonneau story. The final book in the duology, this book did not have the same spark that Dividing Eden had, that made it such an amazing book. With the writing style the same, Charhonneau mad, no development of the Carys character, and little, if any, to Andreus. Still taking on the point of view of Carys and Andreus, it was easy to tell which character was talking, as the switch from chapter to chapter. Charbonneau never really got into the fact that Imogen betrayed Andreus, as it was mentioned that once on throne, Imogen was going to kill Andreus, as she did Micah. Andreus was more upset that Imogen made him turn on Carys, than the fact the girl he loved, never loved him. With somewhat of a slow start, Charbonneau wrote the book as twist after twist, making the plot pretty inconsistent. With shocks coming until the end, the book is not bad, just a letdown after the amazingness that was Dividing Eden.